Agronomists

Our Sales Agronomists

We are very fortunate to have both of these awesome guys, Brandon and Mike, on the Ray Agro Team! Please read a little about them below. As always, if you have a question, need some assistance on something or just want to have a chat with one of them, please don’t hesitate to give them a call. Both can be reached at the Stony Plain location. 

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Brandon Wagner

Stony Plain Location

 A Little Bit About Brandon...

Hi everyone, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Brandon Wagner and I am the new Sales Agronomist at Ray Agro and Petroleum LTD. I am excited to work with you to provide agronomic solutions for your farm. 

I grew up on a mixed cattle and grain operation 25 minutes southwest of Stony Plain. From a young age, I developed a strong interest in all thing’s agriculture, riding along during farming operations, attending bull sales and participating in 4-H. As I grew older, my involvement on my family’s farm expanded to include operating equipment, working cattle, machinery maintenance and assisting with many other tasks as needed. Upon completing high school, I decided to pursue a BSc in Agriculture with a major in crop science at the University of Alberta. I thoroughly enjoyed my degree and expanded greatly upon my knowledge of crop production, industry trends and agronomic practices.

My summers during university were spent working in industry. I spent 2 seasons as a summer student with Nutrien Ag Solutions in Stony Plain. Working under an agronomist provided me a great opportunity to see agronomy being applied in the real world. I spent much of my time scouting fields alongside the agronomist where I learned more about important topics such as herbicide timing, weed identification, fungicide timing, insect pests and many others. After 2 seasons I was looking to explore a different side of the industry and decided to take a position with Corteva Agriscience as part of their field sciences team. While at Corteva I assisted in conducting seed treatment trials, herbicide trials, fungicide trials and biological trials. I learned an immense amount about the research process and how to collect good quality data in a field setting.

After graduating university in the spring of 2022, I had the opportunity to travel to Australia and work on a cattle station in the outback for 4 months last winter. It was a unique experience that I will never forget and one that created many memories. Upon returning I spent this past summer with Bayer Crop Science as part of their market development team where I assisted with conducting canola hybrid trials, herbicide trials, fungicide trials, corn hybrid trials and seed treatment trials. Although I enjoyed my time in research, I missed interacting with producers in the retail setting. When the opportunity presented itself to work at Ray Agro in my own community, I was thrilled to take it. 

I enjoy playing recreational hockey and baseball with local teams along with fishing and attending local agricultural events. I look forward to meeting new people and catching up with those who already know me. I am excited to continue to expand my agronomic knowledge and work with you to provide agronomic solutions for your farm.         

Mike Leighton

Evansburg & Leduc Locations

A Little Bit About Mike...

I grew up in South Eastern Alberta and with farming all around me I developed a strong interest in it. My grandparents also had a cow calf operation in the Blackfalds area, and when we went to visit them, I would help, mostly with working cattle, and fencing. After graduating high school, I completed a BSc. in Environmental Science from the U of A, Augustana Faculty in Camrose. At that point I had been working at Agriculture Canada on the grounds crew and enjoyed it, so I made the decision to attend Olds College and take a Diploma in Landscape Management. All along I still maintained a strong interest in Agriculture, and after completing my diploma, I still felt that I wanted to continue my studies and enrolled in a Bsc. in Agriculture. In the summers between completing this program I worked at Sunstar Nurseries on the field crew. Through this experience I learned a lot about tree production and got to work with a lot of really cool landscape plants.

After graduating from the U of A, I worked another season at Sunstar, from there I went into Agriculture Research first work for ICMS in Fort Saskatchewan as an efficacy technician. I assisted in conducting herbicide trials, variety trials, and nutrient trials. After completing my contract with them I moved to Grande Prairie, where I worked as a Research Technician for Agriculture Canada, in the Forage Program. In this role I assisted in conducting forage seed production, and forage feed trials.

I enjoyed my time in research but felt like something was missing, and that was working on a practical level helping with agronomy on farms. I then got a job with Richardson Pioneer in Bow Island. Bow Island was a great place to learn, because being irrigated there was a wide variety of crops. I enjoyed my time there, but I was wanting to get back to the Edmonton area to be closer to my girlfriend Nicole, so when the opportunity to take this position presented itself, I took it.

In my spare time I enjoy golfing, hiking, reading, and keeping up with the latest and greatest in agriculture. I am also preparing to write my CCA exam and look forward to expanding my knowledge of crop production working for Ray Agro. I look forward to meeting new people, excited for the conversations that we will have, and look forward to providing you all with value added agronomic solutions.